


in the slipping of the sun

by thriftysteps



Series: Warm-ups [4]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Being Lost, Gen, M/M, Magical Realism, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Nature, Pre-Canon, Summer in North Carolina, lost in a forest, mermaid!derek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:28:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25573600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thriftysteps/pseuds/thriftysteps
Summary: Leaves crunched under his feet as Dex made his way through the birch forest. Looking up, Dex could barely see past the red and orange leaves, but the dim light of evening told him it wouldn’t be too long before the sun began to set. He needed to find his way out of the forest before it got too cold.When the air he breathed started cooling and began to chill his lungs, he knew he would be in trouble.
Relationships: Derek "Nursey" Nurse/William "Dex" Poindexter
Series: Warm-ups [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1837456
Comments: 7
Kudos: 42





	in the slipping of the sun

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys,
> 
> this started off as a 15-minute warm-up, but I liked the idea so I wrote until I was satisfied with an ending.
> 
> The song that brought this idea is Lucy Meets Mr.Tummus by Harry Gregson-Williams
> 
> **I do not know anything about North Carolina or trees or anything in general tbh, so take everything as fiction lol

It was summertime in North Carolina and Dex was visiting with his cousins for an internship offered to him in the same town. During the week his cousins asked if he wanted to go on a little hike the coming Friday to destress and get away from the work his internship had him do.

The hike had been amazing. They’d gotten up early in the morning to reach state park near the ocean with a vast forest. The morning birdsong and shrill of cicadas were soothing to Dex in a way he hadn’t anticipated. The morning air was fresh and the breeze brought shivers, but he knew it would warm up soon and quickly. 

He admired the dew still hanging on the sparse grass and plentiful leaves on the ground. The way they reflected the light peaking from the trees overhead made him smile. It was like staring at a stained glass abstract painting. He wouldn’t be able to understand the meaning behind it if he saw something similar in an art museum, but he would definitely be able to appreciate the sentiment it brings.

At one point, his cousins suggested taking a pit stop near a stream to cool down and eat the lunch they’d packed.

They sat on some sun-warmed boulders near the stream and enjoyed small talk with the babbling of the water below them accompanying their flow of conversation. 

There, in that instant, with the sun shining on his face, his body warmed by the rock below him and the summer air, the sounds of life around him and the smell of earth wafting up from around them, Dex felt a peace he hadn’t felt since his childhood in Maine. 

This was where he belonged, he thought, out in nature.

The proof was in the thickened skin of his hands from years of labor, in the shell of his ear attentive to all nearby noise, the strength of his arms, and the clarity of his eyes. 

He told his cousins he needed a bathroom break and walked off, away from the stream to find some privacy. It was possible for him to duck behind the nearest tree or bush, but he thought scenery this mesmerizing was better experienced alone. 

He walked until the sound of the stream was far behind him, almost indistinguishable from the rest of the forest’s noise and found a spot. 

When he turned around after zipping up his pants, he was surprised to spot a fawn lying curled up a few yards away. He knew better than to approach it and instead opted to watch it for a while from where he stood.

When he heard leaves crunching from beyond the fawn, he took it as his cue to walk away to prevent the mother from startling and charging at him. When he did so, however, he realized he’d been so caught up in his mind enjoying the setting that he didn’t keep track of where he was going. 

He scoped out the expanse of forest in front of him and tried to make sense of where he was and what direction he’d come from. He knew, generally, which direction he came from, but he also knew that he’d taken a few turns here and there and wasn’t sure if he remembered them correctly. 

Well, he didn’t want to dwell on it right now, especially not with a fawn and her mother just some yards away.

So, he started off in the general direction he thought he came from and didn’t look back. 

—

Now it’d been about 15 minutes since his he’d spotted the fawn and at least 25 since he’d last seen his cousins. Dex was sure he hadn’t walked too far from the stream, but his current predicament would have been a testament against his belief. 

He’d thought he heard his cousins calling for him and followed the echoes, but when he thought he had found them, it turned out to be a group of birds. Were birds even supposed to imitate people like that? 

Wait, he knew they could theoretically, but in practice? They had sounded too realistic. Too close to the actual voices of their human counterparts. He must have been dreaming. 

He took a deep breath. 

Nothing came from panicking, he would hold off on that for as long as he could. He just had to breathe and keep a steady head. At least he’d eaten before getting lost. He won’t have to worry about food for a while. 

When he breathed out, the sounds of babbling water entered his ears. He perked his head up and tried to make out the direction that the noise was coming from. If he could find a source of water, he would also be set for avoiding dehydration and if he found himself in the worst-case scenario, he would be able to fish in the stream or river. 

He turned to the left and set forward to find the source of the babbling. 

The ambiance of the forest was darkening. The reds and yellows of the trees becoming varying shades of blues, the shrill of cicadas muting until they couldn’t be heard over the rising noise of night bugs, and the crunch of the leaves below him amplifying threateningly. 

He felt like a target, but somehow, he wasn’t afraid. In his deepest of hearts, he felt—he knew—this was his home. This place was familiar. He knew the way he was going, he knew of the hidden paths, and he was going to follow them home. 

It was getting hard to see, Dex thought just before he spotted a firefly. 

He stopped walking to follow the bug with his eyes. Watched as it floated around in circular patterns. He noticed another firefly off in the distance and decided that walking toward it wouldn’t be a bad idea.

It led him to several other fireflies that seemed to create a trail of light as if telling him to follow the path they set before him, so he did. 

Then he started hearing twinkling like wind chimes moved by a spring breeze. It grew louder the further along the lighted path he went, until they became background noise for a softly whistled tune.

It sounded like a flute, but earthier, less metallic, and the tune tugged on Dex’s heart.

It hurt him deeply. 

Why?

It wasn’t until he asked himself the question when he noticed the unmistakable smell of wet earth. A few more steps and he found himself in something of a clearing, with a large black lake in the middle reflecting hundreds of fireflies and the light of the moon that was now well above the horizon. 

The lake’s water was moving, lapping lightly at the edges where it met with grass. Then, crickets joined in the chorus of the whistling and the fireflies swayed and twirled as if dancing to the tune. 

He felt like he was in space, experiencing the lights come from above and below him where their water reflected the intricacies of the moving light. 

The twinkling slowed, the crickets hummed their last chorus, and the fireflies gradually dropped their light as the earthy whistling tune came to an end. 

Dex followed the sound of the tune with his eyes and noticed, in the lake but off to the side, laid on a boulder was a man with a small, round instrument in his hands held up to his face. 

Except, the man couldn’t have been human. As beautiful as his top half was, his bottom half's beauty was mythical in nature.

A tail fin, Dex noted. 

The creature stood still with the end of his song and stared at the instrument in his hands. Dex didn’t know what to do, all movement and noise around them had ceased and he didn’t want to break the atmosphere the song had created. 

When a shiver racked his body, though, Dex knew he had to do something or else he might not hope to leave the forest, but he’d never encountered something like this. He didn’t know what precautions to take, how to make his presence seem non-threatening. 

His mind supplied an idea and before realizing he was doing it, Dex began whistling the tune he’d just heard to the best of his memory.

He knew it didn’t sound as beautiful as the mythical being had made it, but it was sufficient in grabbing the being’s attention and keeping it from turning tail and hiding in the lake. 

When he stopped to breathe, the creature made and kept eye contact with him until Dex spoke.

“I need help finding my way out of this forest. Could you help me?” 

Dex watched as the other being smiled. When it spoke, its voice came from everywhere and nowhere and its mouth opened but didn’t move.

_You just have to open your eyes, Poindexter._

“What? How do you—?” 

_Your eyes have been closed this entire time._

“Wait, no they’re—“

_Just open them. You can leave once you open—_

Dex started feeling heavy, as if gravity doubled with the non-spoken words of the being in front of him.

_—your—_

Suddenly, Dex realized he wasn’t breathing. When had he stopped? When was the last time he had taken a breath?

_—eyes._

And when he did, he found himself laying on a boulder with the sun high overhead and his cousins chatting on about what they should make for dinner. 

“Oh, Will, you’re finally awake?” One of them asked.

“I was asleep?” 

“Yeah, you totally zonked it after you finished eating. That internship must have gotten to you bad, huh?” The other one said. 

“Yeah, I mean, I guess.” 

“We were just about to start heading back, let’s gather everything up.” 

“How long was I out?” Dex asked. He couldn’t get the image of sea-green eyes boring holes into his being. 

“Like fifteen minutes.” 

As he stood up, Dex heard a faint twinkling of chimes coming from downstream. He was certain, though, that his cousins wouldn’t know what he was talking about if he mentioned it. 

He helped gather all of their things and began walking back up the trail they’d taken with his cousins. 

The whole way home and for many months afterward he wouldn’t be able to get the image of that man—of those eyes—out of his head.

—

It was his senior year of high school and he was about to tour Samwell University when he found himself in front of a man with familiar sea-green eyes.

“You found your way out, Poindexter?” He’d said with a smile.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!!
> 
> as always, comments and kudos are appreciated. I like to read comments when im feeling down <3
> 
> I'm trying to write more for the check, please fandom so expect more from me, probably


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